Oman-based petrochemicals firm Octal is planning to list in 2018, according to its chief executive.

Octal, based in the Indian Ocean port city of Salalah is the world’s largest manufacturer of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheet and resin on a single site.

The initial public offering of the Salalah-based manufacturer is primarily to finance the de-bottlenecking of phase three expansion of the $600m plant, which began operations in 2006.

“We believe that with phase three, which is a couple of things, one of which is de-bottlenecking. Which means for very little money, in this case $26m, we can increase our capacity significantly by about 46,000 tonnes, but at the same time, we reduce our costs by about a third,” said Nicholas Barakat.

Speaking exclusively with MEED during a tour of site facilities, Barakat said the company was likely to list in 2018 but has not yet approached any financial advisors.

“Most probably in 2018. It takes 18 months for delivery on the equipment. The [Saudi] Aramco listing next year gives us confidence,” he added.

Octal, which began operations with a capacity of 32,000 tonnes in 2006 currently has annual capacity of 928,000 tonnes, with manufacturing facilities in Saudi Arabia as well as the USA, which is the largest market for its products.

Its two flagship products are PET resin and PET sheet. The former is used in packaging for water and carbonated drinks, while the latter finds varied uses in the packaging for fresh produce meat, yoghurt and dairy.